Rebuilding a dynasty team can be a ton of fun, mostly because rookie drafts make us feel like a kid on Christmas. We count up all our picks and wonder what shiny new toys the NFL draft will bring us this year. But I think there’s a bit of a fixation with rebuilding in the dynasty community that can distract from the true goal of playing dynasty and fantasy sports in general: winning championships.
Ideally, you want to build a team that is always in contention, that can win multiple titles. But what about this year? Somebody has to win your league in 2020 and take home all that prize money. Why shouldn’t it be you? If you already have a solid core of players, you may be able to propel yourself into a championship window by picking up some veteran players positioned for a strong season. I’m willing to admit that giving up young players or rookie picks to acquire veterans in the twilight of their careers is a risky and often gross business. But if you can plug your nose and ignore the “ick” factor, you’ll find that you can often acquire these players at a massive discount, especially if they’re rostered by managers that are a year or two away from seriously competing.
Today, we’ll focus on four older quarterbacks that you can target for your title run in 2020. Make sure to keep an eye out for subsequent editions featuring wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends.
Drew Brees
Drew Brees has been a model of consistency throughout his career. In PPG, here’s where Brees has finished in PPG each year since 2012: QB1, QB2, QB4, QB4, QB14, QB7, and QB8. Even at the age of 41, Brees is still playing at an incredibly high level. He threw for 27 TDs and 4 INTs in just 11 games last season, and his 74.3 completion percentage led the league. With Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Emmanuel Sanders, and Jared Cook all in the fold for 2020, we should expect more of the same from Brees in what is likely his final season.
Tom Brady
Tom Brady, like Drew Brees, is poised for a strong 2020 campaign despite being on the wrong side of 40. Brady didn’t look like himself in his final year with the Patriots, but consider the weapons he was working with. Outside of Julian Edelman and James White (the only players to top 400 receiving yards), the Patriots offense featured injured rookie N’Keal Harry, half a season of a 30-year-old Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett, UDFA Jakobi Meyers, and Matt LaCosse. On the other side of the ball, the Pats defense held opponents to a league-low 14.1 PPG, which allowed Brady to play keep-away in the 2nd half all season long. Despite all this, he was still the QB16 in PPG, a high-end QB2. With the Buccaneers, Tom Brady will have the privilege of throwing to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, OJ Howard, and his old friend Rob Gronkowski for all four quarters as the Buccaneers defense (ranked 29th in PPG last season) allows their opponents to score at will.
Ben Roethlisberger
After a disastrous, injury-riddled season for the entire Pittsburgh Steelers offense, it’s easy to forget that Ben Roethlisberger led the league in pass attempts in 2018 and finished as the QB3. While that mark is likely unreachable for 2020, we also shouldn’t expect to see the slow-paced, run-oriented attack that the offense implemented for much of 2019 to mask the deficiencies of backup QBs Mason Rudolph and Develin Hodges.
The truth is that with Ben under center, the Steelers offense has enjoyed a high level of consistency for many years. From 2013-2018 (six seasons), Ben averaged over 36 attempts per game in every season, the Steelers never finished outside the top half in scoring, and, most importantly, Ben finished as a top-10 QB in PPG in all but one season. Yes, Antonio Brown is gone, but I believe JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and friends provide the 38-year-old with enough firepower to bounce back in 2020. If someone in your league is willing to sell him on the cheap due to age or injury concerns, now is the time to pounce.
Philip Rivers
If you’re playing in a superflex format, and you need to shore up your QB2 or even QB3 spot, Philip Rivers is a solid player to target. His age alone should make him easy to acquire from managers that are out of contention, but, beyond that, he doesn’t have a flashy resume that players are likely to cling to. He has never been a perennial top-5 finisher. As Matthew Berry recently pointed out, he’s never even scored 30 fantasy points in a game. However, he has produced consistently: 23+ TD passes in 12 straight seasons and 4,000+ passing yards in 11 out of 12. Now he’s moving on to Indianapolis, where he’ll have a decent supporting cast and an incredible offensive line that can keep him upright and hopefully help him to cut down on the interceptions that plagued him last season. Rivers doesn’t have the ceiling of Brady, Brees, or Ben, but he’s likely to be cheaper and you may be able to squeeze multiple seasons out of him.
Thanks for reading this article! Look me up on Twitter at @fantasyfreezer if you’d like to hear more from me. I love answering fantasy questions, discussing trades, and engaging in friendly debates, so be sure to drop in and say hello.
